Angel 5-5

[Henry]

I think that out of all the mortals she's interacting with, Wesley is the one Illyria respects the most - not saying a lot, but he is apparently important to her. I just wonder if Wesley, now that he knows, WILL eventually break down, and ask for a little Fred Lovin'...

I thought Spike referred to Nina as Angel's girlfriend, not Angel himself... If he did, that's got some interesting tones to it.

Is tonight the second to last one?

 

[Mercule]

The Illyria arc has had a lot of referrences to things like "Do your memories make you or is it something else?" ,Illyria having Fred's memories, and her being able to mimic Fred. It makes me wonder if the Illyria thing is a way of making Fred something more, but still supposed to be Fred.

Alternatively, it could be just the opposite -- an indication that memories do _not_ make you who you are. That could have interesting repercussions on Angel and his angst and suffering for what happened when he had no soul (that portion of Fred that was taken and caused her to cease being Fred).

A third option is that Fred's soul wasn't really "consumed" in the sense that it was eaten. It was "consumed" by the memories and powers of Illyria in that her own personality was overwhelmed by these things. When/if this is revealed, then we have SuperFred, but still Fred in every other sense.

Eh, we'll never know. I doubt they'll resolve it in the last two episodes.

On another note, I liked Nina and wouldn't mind seeing her again before the shows runs its course.

And, yes, Henry, I do believe there are two episodes left (airing 5/12 and 5/19).

 

[Michael Tree]

I don't know if this is the worst episode of Angel ever, but it's certainly down there. Its only redeeming feature was the Illyria parts, which could have filled an entire episode satisfactorily. Instead we get "They're Italians! Italian stereotypes are funny! Getit? Italians=funny! Oh, and spikeandangel acting like idiots=funny too! hehehe "

At any any other time I could have accepted this episode as mildly entertaining filler. Hell, it's actually much better than the submarile episode and the harmony episodes this season, but as the 3rd last episode of the season, it sucks wet farts out of dead pidgeons. It not only leads up to the end, but actually difuses what little buildup and inertia there already was.

What's most disappointing is that the other "closure" episodes this season have been sheer genius, but this one is forgettable at best.